Chapter 13: Enterprise Networks

Title: Cycle to identify the optimization potentials in complex business processes

Author(s): Max Brosch, Dieter Krause

Address: Institute for Product Development and Mechanical Engineering Design, Hamburg University of Technology, Denickestr. 17, 21073 Hamburg, Germany | Institute for Product Development and Mechanical Engineering Design, Hamburg University of Technology, Denickestr. 17, 21073 Hamburg, Germany

Reference: International Conference on Product Lifecycle Management 2010 pp. 708 - 718

Abstract/Summary: Competition usually forces the increase of product variety, this leads to higher complexity in the information and material flow as well as in the logical linkage in the entire business process. This paper is outlining a procedure to identify the variant specific optimizing potentials of a business process using Sankey-diagrams. The procedure of surveying the actual state of the products and the processes of a company and identifying the variant specific weak points is an iterative process. Once the iteration loop is operated, the identified weak points in the process have to be taken into account and they have to be purged, if possible. Furthermore the identification of process relevant product characteristics is important to provide the product development department with recommendations on how to avoid the creation of process complexity during product development and enhancement.

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